AT&T Is Buying DirecTV In A Deal Valued At Nearly $50 Billion, $67 Billion With Debt

AT&T announced today that it will buy DirecTV for $95 per
share, in a deal valued at almost $50 billion ($48.5) and about
$67 billion with debt.

The deal isn't a surprise. The news leaked out last week through
the Wall Street Journal and several other publications, but
everyone was waiting for the final price.

Now, regulators will have to
approve the deal, which will take several months.

With DirecTV, AT&T wouldn't
just be getting a paid TV service that covers much of the U.S.
DirecTV also has a sizeable presence in South America. About 20%
of DirecTV's revenues last quarter came from its South America
business, and it has a good amount of market share in the
region.

AT&T also has a cable TV
and broadband internet product called U-Verse, which is available
in limited markets in the U.S.

The deal is just the latest in a series of consolidation moves
between internet and paid TV providers. Comcast announced a few
months ago that
it would buy Time Warner for $45 billion, making it the
largest cable and broadband provider in the country. The deal is
expected to go through this fall.

To appease regulators, AT&T will frame the DirecTV
purchase as a way to provide blanket internet access to portions
of the country that don't have reliable broadband yet. Meanwhile,
AT&T will have to prove to the government that its proposed
merger won't give it an unfair advantage over other TV and
internet providers. However, AT&T could spin its own proposal
as a counterweight to the Comcast deal.

There's another big consolidation play that has everyone talking.
Sprint
is reportedly in talks to buy T-Mobile, which would create a
strong third competitor to challenge AT&T and Verizon, the
two wireless giants that control most of the business in the U.S.
That deal could be announced this summer, assuming talks don't
fall through.

This isn't AT&T's first time trying to make a big
acquisition. In 2011, it tried to buy T-Mobile, but the
Department of Justice blocked the merger.